Renegade's Dominion

At this very moment, Tyberius found himself standing in the middle of one of the most absurd scenes of his life. And oddly enough, he wasn't shocked, far from it. After everything he had endured since arriving in this strange world, the absurd had become his new normal.

In just a matter of weeks, he'd heard a mysterious voice in his head announcing skill achievements, had his consciousness forcibly separated from his body, killed a wild beast and stolen its shape, led a wolf pack, and even lived life on four legs. The sheer volume of chaos he'd waded through was overwhelming, and it hadn't even been a full month yet.

'I've been through hell and back...' Ty mused.

His mental resilience had been tested nonstop, battered by one surreal encounter after another. Yet somehow, he remained standing.

And now, a fresh layer of madness had arrived, which Ty had already dubbed internally as The Goblin Event.

Small, hunched figures with dark green skin, bald heads, and unsettling yellow eyes knelt before him. Their appearance resembled something pulled straight from a dark fantasy novel. With their grotesque proportions and eerie silence, it was easy to imagine someone pointing and shouting, "Hey! Look! A bunch of demonic garden gnomes!"

Of course, Ty recognized them. He'd consumed enough fantasy media back on Earth to know goblins when he saw them. What puzzled him wasn't their identity, it was their behavior.

They were kneeling. All of them.

Not just squatting or bowing politely, full-on kneeling in reverence, heads lowered, eyes refusing to meet his. A few were visibly trembling. The one at the forefront, clearly their representative, was shaking like a leaf, barely managing to hold it together with a strained attempt at composure.

Ty blinked at the surreal sight. "Why... exactly are you all kneeling in front of me?" he asked, trying not to let the disbelief show in his tone.

It wasn't strange to him that he could understand them, or that they could understand him. No, he had long since stopped questioning how communication worked in this world. If wolves could share feelings and intentions without a single word, why not goblins speaking fluent Common?

What was strange, however, was waking up on a calm, beautiful morning only to find two dozen goblins cowering at his doorstep like he was some kind of death god.

The pack was tense behind him, especially Kaiden, who paced with ears flat and eyes sharp. Ty glanced at the trembling goblins again, noting how none of them dared to even raise their gaze.

'Am I really that terrifying to look at?' he wondered, slightly insulted. Goblins weren't exactly poster children for beauty and grace, yet here they were trembling as if they'd seen the face of a demon king.

"We beg your forgiveness, O Great One," their leader finally spoke, his voice cracking despite the formality in his tone. "Disturbing your peace was never our intention."

Ty nearly turned around, just to be sure he wasn't missing someone standing behind him. But no, aside from the wolves, there was no one else. The title clearly wasn't meant for anyone but him.

'Are they serious right now?' He wasn't sure what to make of this reverence, but he also wasn't about to argue with it.

Best to play along for now.

He straightened his back slightly, adopting a more composed posture, subconsciously trying to match the image they apparently had of him.

"So then... why have you come?" he asked, his voice dipping into a lower, more controlled cadence.

The Goblin leader's expression remained tense. "We seek your shelter, O Great One. Please... allow us to remain under your protection."

Ty froze. For a second, he thought he'd misheard. "Come again?"

"We've traveled far," the goblin continued, nearly choking on the desperation in his tone, "because we've heard of you. Of your strength. Of your wisdom. Of your mercy. We beg of you, let us stay and serve beneath your banner."

Ty's mouth opened slightly, but before he could utter a word, the goblin continued, again.

"We will do anything you ask. Work the land. Hunt. Defend your territory. Our only plea is that you grant us your protection in return, O Great One!"

"Would you just let me speak?!" Ty screamed inwardly. The goblin kept interrupting, leaving no room to clarify anything or correct the misunderstanding. He wasn't a leader, a general, or some divine figurehead. He was just a guy trying to get by in a strange world with a bunch of wolves for roommates.

And yet, looking at their bowed heads and shaking limbs, Ty knew they believed every word they said.

He inhaled deeply, weighing the possibilities. Was there any real downside to accepting them? They weren't asking for food or shelter, they just wanted the idea of protection. And frankly, they didn't need to know that Ty couldn't actually provide any real safeguard if something bigger came along.

So what if he played along?

'Fake it till you make it, right?' he thought, chewing on his lower lip.

He cleared his throat and exhaled. "Alright... you can stay. Just don't disrupt anything I've already got going. Respect my space, don't cause problems, and we'll get along just fine."

The goblin leader nearly fell forward in relief, pressing his forehead into the dirt. "Blessings be upon you, O Merciful One. Your kindness has no equal."

"Sure. Whatever you say," Ty replied, waving a hand dismissively as if this sort of thing happened every other Tuesday.

'This should be fine, right?' he thought, though the doubt crept in quickly.

He tried reassuring himself. "It's not like I own this land anyway. There's enough space for everyone. And if it doesn't work out, well... I'll deal with that later."

He glanced toward the trees, feeling the morning breeze brush against his skin. "Yeah. Future me can handle that disaster, if it ever shows up."

And just like that, Tyberius found himself not only the elder of a wolf pack but now the self-declared guardian of an entire goblin clan.

What could possibly go wrong?